An apparatus of this type has become known, for instance, from Austrian Patent Specification 292,454. The aim of the present invention is was to reduce the structural complexity and cost relative to the known arrangement, with an additional increase in the number of change-over positions. According to the invention this is achieved by the carrier having as is known per se, a plurality of cam followers spaced at a distance from each other, one of the latter being selectively switched from an operative position controlling the intermittent drive into an inoperative position by the change-over means. The intermittent drive may be a beater drive or a claw device. From German patent DAS 1 810 494 a carrier with a plurality of cam followers has become known; there, however the cam followers were not individually actuated by choice, but one or more were actuated according to the desired frame frequency. It is also known from German patent DOS 2,048,334 to provide a plurality of cams, each cam being driven at a different number of revolutions/second, one cam follower being assigned to each cam; these cam followers are, however arranged on different carriers, which bear upon a common drive member actuating a claw. This construction is, however, relatively complicated and expensive, and the application of a large number of different cams does not appear to be possible.